Wii U-exclusive Assassin's Creed III features detailed

The Wii U's unique controller will allow multiplatform Wii U/PS3/360 game to have Wii U-exclusive features and controls. This is the case for Assassin's Creed III.

The Wii U's tablet controller will be used in many similar ways to the second screen on the DS and 3DS. For example, it can be used to show a persistent map and navigational tool. This should make switching destination markers a much smoother process than it currently is in the Assassin's Creed franchise. (You have to pause the game and open the map screen to switch destinations.) The touch screen will also be used for on-the-fly weapon switching. Currently, you can assign specific weapons to the Dpad for quick switching, but that method is limited to four weapons.

Those pesky Animus updates will be shown on the touch screen, meaning no more constant "New assassination contracts are now available" and "Arrow storm is now ready" messages on the game screen. Encyclopedia data (character and landmark profiles) can be displayed on the controller screen as well. The advantages of that are still unclear. Maybe you'll want to read character bios in the bathroom.

The most interesting Wii U-exclusive feature is the ability to use the controller's screen and motion sensor as a second pair of eyes during Eagle Vision. You'll be able to move the controller to look in different directions while the main screen stays focused on Connor.

A lot of ideas for possible uses for the Wii U controller have been thrown around since the system was revealed last year, but we haven't seen much official talk from developers.

Staff article by Rhody Tobin (March 27, 2012) Rhody likes to press the keys on his keyboard. Sometimes the resulting letters form strings of words that kind of make sense when you think about them for a moment. Most times they're just random gibberish that should be ignored. Ball-peen wobble glurk.